When Chicago’s weeklong celebration of craft beer — then called Chicago Craft Beer Week — was launched back in 2010, craft was still an underdog. The world was owned by light beer.

Light beer still reigns supreme, but craft has ascended into the mainstream — so mainstream that finding an IPA at a ballpark or a chain restaurant or even a museum cafe is now the rule, not the exception.

Losing some of that underdog status has taken some of the urgency from what is now called Illinois Craft Beer Week. Craft beer is everywhere; why does it need a celebration?

The answer is that craft beer remains one of the nation’s most vibrant industries, churning out waves of ingenuity. Plus, everyone loves a party.

Here are a few highlights of the weeklong celebration, which takes place May 18-25. More information on all events is available at illinoisbeer.org/icbw.

Friday, May 18

It’s hard to do better than Craft Beer Week’s signature evening, Beer Under Glass. Hosted amid the lush greenery of Garfield Park Conservatory, the 9-year-old party plays host to more than 100 breweries in one uniquely gorgeous location. As of this writing, tickets remain available for both general admission ($60) and VIP ($80; allows entry at 5 p.m. and food tickets). 6-9 p.m.; 300 N. Central Park Ave.

Saturday, May 19

HopCat is putting its 100 tap handles to work by tapping all Illinois beers in its 100 Illinois Beer Tap Takeover. The gamut of local beer will be wide, from easy drinking (lagers from Dovetail and Metropolitan) to boozy (barrel-aged barleywines from Brickstone and Revolution) and everything in between. The other 49 states need not apply. 11 a.m.; 2577 N. Clark St.

Sunday, May 20

Legendary beer writer, homebrewer and minority stake brewery owner Randy Mosher — who owns a little piece of both 5 Rabbit Cerveceria and Forbidden Root — has the moment pinned to 2000: the year that America’s breweries overtook America’s home brewers in terms of beer quality at their festivals. Yes, home brewers can be that good. Empirical Brewing will remind us how good with a home brew festival, Homebrew Thunderdome. A $20 ticket gets unlimited samples of more than 30 home brews from nine different home brew clubs. These clubs take their beer seriously, so the guess here is that the quality will be anywhere from good to great. 1 p.m., 1801 W. Foster Ave.

Monday, May 21

Ah saison — that perpetually brilliant and underappreciated style of beer. Well, the guys behind the “ABV Chicago” beer podcast are here to give saison its due. The second annual Saisonathon goes down at Pub Royale, where a dozen saisons will be on tap from breweries both near (Cruz Blanca, Whiner) and far (Maine’s well-regarded Oxbow Brewing). 5 p.m.; 2049 W. Division St.

Tuesday, May 22

It took a few years, but the suburbs have established themselves as just as fertile beer ground as the city. Beermiscuous teams up with the PorchDrinking website to pay homage to some of the best with a tap takeover that features two beers each from Kinslahger (Oak Park), Noon Whistle (Lombard), Pollyanna (Lemont and Roselle), Sketchbook (Evanston), Tighthead (Mundelein) and Une Annee/HubbardsCave (Niles). Among the offerings will be Coffee Fun Size Milk Stout from Pollyanna and Gummypocalypse, a hazy IPA from Noon Whistle. 6 p.m.; 2812 N. Lincoln Ave.

Wednesday, May 23

Love to love them or love to hate them, hazy IPAs (aka New England-style IPAs, aka double dry hopped IPAs) have sure made craft beer an interesting place during the past year or two. For the second year in a row, Forbidden Root — one of the first breweries in the city to embrace the trend — hosts a tap takeover where all 16 taps will be dominated by the haze craze. 5 p.m.; 1746 W. Chicago Ave.

Thursday, May 24

The fifth annual Northwest Side Craft Beer Ride transports beer drinkers between nine bars and breweries on a continuous loop. Tickets are $20 for the transportation. Ticket holders can show up at any of the nine bars and hop on the bus when it shows up. 6 p.m. until midnight. See website for map and participating bars.

Friday, May 25

Good Libations isn’t just a fun name — it’s also the new closing event for Illinois Craft Beer Week. The theme of the closer will change every year, but at Good Libations, it’s tropical brews from more than 60 breweries. Just in time for summer. $60; 6 p.m.; Theatre on the Lake, 2401 N. Lake Shore Drive.

Special note: Josh Noel will read from his new book “Barrel-Aged Stout and Selling Out: Goose Island, Anheuser-Busch and How Craft Beer Became Big Business” at the Revolution Brewing brewpub, followed by moderating a panel of three former Goose Island brewers from three eras: Josh Deth (founder of Revolution Brewing), Phil Wymore (founder of Perennial Artisan Ales) and Claudia Jendron (quality control brewer at Pipeworks Brewing). Free. 7 p.m. Thursday, May 24, 2323 N. Milwaukee Ave.

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